


Black Zero 2.0

by garilin



Category: Krypton (TV 2018)
Genre: Classism, M/M, Post-Season/Series 01, Referenced canonical character death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-29
Updated: 2018-06-29
Packaged: 2019-05-30 14:45:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15098912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/garilin/pseuds/garilin
Summary: How Dev joined the resistance and ended up with Kem.





	Black Zero 2.0

With a grunt of pain, Dev loosened his hold on Lyta enough for her to slip away and deliver a kick to the back of his knee. As he was forced to kneel, her hands grabbed his arm and yanked it up his back. He braced for the pain, but when nothing blossomed in his shoulder, no longer his own flesh and blood, Dev turned on her and slammed his 'good' hand into her windpipe. His arm clicked a bit, but it still responded fine as he drilled it into her gut--or tried to, at least, because Lyta had already recovered and before Dev knew what was happening he was on his back. Outside the ring.

"Two to one," Lyta said in between pants. "Best of five?"

"Not today." Sitting up, Dev stretched out his back, rolling his shoulders. There was a mild sting, but he didn't think he would be sore tomorrow. His eyes caught upon someone in the stands. Watching them. "I have a late patrol tonight."

Lyta helped him up. He allowed himself to bask in her touch as it lingered upon his forearm. They'd become more affectionate, since their relationship solidified into something strong but strictly platonic. Dev still loved her, of course he did, but there was an easiness between them he wouldn't trade for anything.

Well, almost anything. Her time-traveling son thought the whole universe was his for the taking, an idea that needed correcting. If Dru-Zod refused to back down...Dev would miss Lyta, miss her more than his missing limb, but he _couldn't_ sacrifice innocents for her. He'd learned that the hard way.

And so it was with a heavy heart that he watched her go, wondering how many afternoons they would have like this before Dev had to act.

The man in the stands stood from his seat, drawing Dev's attention back to him. He was small, skinny, but there was a keen glean to his eyes that made Dev tense. He was already a known traitor, and clearly discontent with Dru-Zod's plans. Dev didn't know if he was worth a spy or assassin, but perhaps his friendship with Lyta made him so.

It was as he drew closer that Dev realized firstly that the man was actually quite tall, perhaps taller than him, and secondly that he's familiar.

"You're Seg's friend."

"Uh, yeah. Yeah, I was."

_Was._ Even with Lyta grieving, it was surreal to think that Seg-El--for that was who he was immortalized as--was gone. Maybe it was the lack of a body, maybe it was everything else that should have done him in.

"I'm sorry," Dev said, and he meant it. "It was Kem, right?"

"Yep. That's me."

"Why did you return here?"

Kem shrugged. "This place has a lot of ghosts in it, but there were good times, too. Plus, I know the underground here."

"Kem," Dev began, haltingly, "things are different now-"

"I know. Trust me, _I know_ ," Kem cut in, voice colder and harder than Dev had heard from anyone except Dru and what used to be the Voice of Rao.

Silence descended between them, stilted and suffocating. Dev wondered why Kem was here, if he'd actually come to see Lyta. Hopefully for something unrelated to Seg, though it was doubtful.

But Kem didn't make any excuses to leave. He simply stood there, staring haughtily back at Dev, needle-thin arms crossed in front of him in a display of aggression, not anxiety.

"Are you here to enlist?" Dev finally asked.

"No."

"So you're already enlisted?"

"Also no."

"I disagree with it myself-"

"I'm sure."

Dev's eyes narrowed. "It is regrettable that the Rankless are being forced into service, but the law holds. For the moment."

Kem's face cracked open into something half snarl and half smile. "You trying to tell me something there, Dev?"

"Only that if you refuse to enlist, you will be arrested. Possibly executed."

"Aw, are you worried? Would you mourn for me, a stranger?"

Dev huffed, but the other's glee only doubled. "I would prefer to avoid unnecessary bloodshed." 'And you're a friend of Seg's,' he didn't say, because Seg was nothing to him but an extension of Lyta and Kem probably knew it.

"Well, well. I suppose the others're right about you, after all."

"Others?"

"Remember what I said about the underground?" Kem bared his teeth. "I have a few friends who are accustomed to certain freedoms and they are...disinclined, to fall in line with your psychotic nephew."

"And what is it that they want from me."

Kem shrugged. "Information, mainly. Whatever you can give us. Revolution's afoot, Dev."

Dev went blank, outwardly. "Why me?"

"Why you? Why, you're probably the last good man in Kandor!"

"What about you? Why are you doing this?"

He regretted asking immediately. Kem...His smile faltered, vanished, came back a shadow of itself. His eyes went dark and gained a brightness of a different kind. His fingers, topped with dirty nails just long enough to hurt, dug into his arms 'til they were white as bone.

"Well...That's a fair question. Why would I do this? I mean, I was entirely against resistance efforts like a week ago, and now I've gone and joined up with Black Zero 2.0? It's crazy. It's legitimately insane."

"You don't have to-"

"First it was Ter and Cherys. Then Rhom, then Ona. And then I come back to find Kandor still standing and Seg gone. Just... _Gone._ Y'know, I think I would rather've let Brainiac rip this city from the ground than have him be gone, but I wasn't here and, _damn him_ , Seg wouldn't have listened to a word I had to say anyway. He was the stupid type, y'know?"

"I know."

For some reason, that sent Kem into a fit of laughter, loud and exuberant and a tad bit hysterical.

" _You know._ Of course you know! You had to deal with Seg and Lyta being idiots together and by Rao I would not have wished that upon _anyone_." He sobered some, his smile becoming half genuine. "To answer your question, I joined up because I have nothing to lose, not anymore. And because stopping Dru-Zod is what Seg would do if he was here, and he isn't."

Dev softened. He was going to regret this. "Okay."

"Okay?"

"I'll help you. As much as I can."

* * *

The ninth time they met, it was at Kem's bar.

Rather, what used to be Kem's bar.

There's no structural damage that he can see, just a lot of dirt, shattered glass, and what look to be burn scars on the walls. Kem stood behind the bar, scrubbing at old messes with a blood-stained rag. Dev went to greet him, but was noticed first.

"Dev! You're early. What're you doing lurking in the dark like that?"

With a roll of his eyes and a twitch of his lips, Dev took a seat. "You seeemed busy."

"Just keeping myself occupied, waiting on you."

"I'm early."

"I was earlier. Anything to report?"

It was with great regret that Dev shook his head. He hated that he couldn't be more useful, but Kem had impressed upon him the need for caution and he always knew when Dev took risks.

"Oh, wipe that sour look off your face. It's fine, we're all fine. You're doing wonderful, and you're allowed to come up empty every once in a while. You weren't even trained to be a spy."

Dev reluctantly nodded his agreement.

"Eight to one is pretty damn good, Dev. What do you say we have a couple drinks to celebrate? On the house. Then, you wouldn't've come all this way for nothing."

Weighed down by the hopelessness of their situations, Dev agreed. He would rather Kem come around and sit next to him, but he could tell how comfortable he felt on the other side. A return to normality, or at least what it used to be.

'A couple' drinks turned into five, Dev and Kem passing the evening with some idle chat. Then Dev made the mistake of asking how the new government actually compared to the old when i came to treatment of the Rankless, which launched a whole spiel about the evils of both and dehumanization that Dev found quite interesting, even if he wasn't sober enough to process every word. Kem seemed to notice, because he paused long enough to get water for them both halfway through.

"What about you?" Kem eventually asked. "What's it been like for the great Sagitari?"

"Nothing's changed."

"Do you ever feel like you should've been something else?"

Dev's brows furrowed. "'Something else'?"

"Haven't you ever wanted to not follow orders for some power-hungry asshole?"

"I am Dev of Em. A soldier is who I was made to be, a soldier is who I am."

"What you are, maybe," Kem huffed, but despite his words Dev detected no annoyance. Instead, he found sympathy.

A light pressure on his hand-- the metal one--distracted him. Glancing down, Dev saw that Kem was holding it, grip gentle and surely warm, even if he couldn't feel it.

Kem smiled at him, soft and sweet. It was the first time Dev had seen his face bare of mischief or irritation. He was beautiful, then, too, but this was something new, something precious.

"Soldier or not, I just think you're worth more."


End file.
